Hi Ryan! I am opening up a holiday rental website, It will be released shortly. Would it be a good idea to offer free sign up for 6 months to get as many properties as possible on there or not? I am putting up a page this week for people to register for a free sign up. However once the site is released people will then have to pay to list their properties. The whole idea of putting this page up is to get as many properties to sign up as possible so properties will exist when site is released

I think your going to have to think through the model here. Airbnb.com allows property owners to list their place for free, and if rented, AirBnB gets a 3% cut and handle the whole transaction.

Granted, they may not be the same exact site, but you would be going against the grain here in my opinion.

I’m also not sure if by the word “holiday”, you meant “vacation” or and actual holiday. Either way, you have a cart-horse problem, and will likely need to make the listings free to post for the foreseeable future until you can get some traction with closing rental agreements.

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I am in the process of looking for an advertising agency. Any advise on whether or not an advertising agency is a good investment for a start up?

Answered by Maggie Fox – Founder, Social Media Group

Depends on your budget and what you need to accomplish. I would think that a PR agency would also be important. (more)

I am creating a holiday rental website in Australia and as you could imagine, I am competing with some serious competition. what could I do to successfully enter the market...

Answered by Dan Martell – Founder & Investor.

I don't know ... but it's best for you to get a mentor who's build a similar type business and ask them. (more)

Hi Ryan, I am a young, businesswoman looking for more experience to start my non-profit organization. Is there any advice you could give me to gain more experience before ...

Answered by Ryan Kelly – Founder, Pear Analytics

Sorry, I don't have much experience with non-profits. In the software/product world, it's usually a good idea to NOT launch (read Eric Ries). Why? Well, basically the ch... (more)

Next week, I will be presenting the idea that I'm working on to someone who might be a potential customer. At this stage I have a working prototype however it's still not ...

Answered by Dan Martell – Founder & Investor.

If the application isn't polished and you're trying to get a sale, then try creating some high fidelity mock ups and asking for a deposit. If your goal is to validate the ... (more)

I love to brainstorm. My mind works this way all the time. I can't stand keeping my customer service job in an organic grocery chain. The fact that my schedule is all over ...

Answered by Dan Martell – Founder & Investor.

Find a problem that you have and try and solve it. If you do, then show it to friends and see if they would like to have your solution (or not). Either way, stick to the ... (more)

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